Data and information

... Introduction A computer system processes and stores data. It outputs the processed data either as information or in some cases as data to be input again either to the same system or to a different one. Data is produced as a result of an event or transaction. In most situations data occurs as a series of values relating to the event or transaction. When a customer takes goods to the check out in a supermarket a series of values is generated. The first value might be the customer's loyalty card number. This might be followed by a series of bar code values representing the items bought. The final data in this sequence might be a code signal indicating that there are no more goods, followed by an amount tendered. This whole sequence of data has been generated by an event - the customer buying some goods. Data values are not necessarily numerical. Data

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